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Karen Louise Busby
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Lawyer, professor, community activist.
Born at Edmonton, Alberta on 17 September 1958, daughter of nurse Norma Lorraine Ingimundson and salesman David Willingdon Busby (1927-1999), after studying in Manitoba, France, and New York, she worked at a Winnipeg law firm and the Federal Court of Appeal before joining the teaching staff of the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba in 1987.
She received awards for teaching excellence and spoke publicly on topics as diverse as constitutional law and LGBTQRS+ rights. Her involvement with the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), Egale Canada, and others worked to strengthen protections for sexual assault complainants, limit queer book and magazine seizures at the Canadian border, secure marriage equality, and end discriminatory treatment of same-sex couples. She created a civil litigation resource, known colloquially as “Busby’s Rules,” used by Manitoba lawyers and judges.
She and Helen Fallding established the University of Manitoba’s Centre for Human Rights Research and Canada’s first interdisciplinary Master's program in Human Rights. She contributed to the formation of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. Her contributions were recognized by the Senate of Canada, Law Society of Manitoba, Canadian Bar Association, and Manitoba Bar Association. In 2007, she received a YMCA-YWCA Women of Distinction Award and was inducted into Canada’s Queer Hall of Fame (2011).
On 3 September 2011, she married Jan Lederman. She served on the Board of the Winnipeg Art Gallery and was an avid art collector.
She died at Winnipeg on 23 July 2026.
“They all make a big difference,” Winnipeg Free Press, 3 May 2007, page 4.
“Karen Busby and my Aunt Joan’s cherry cake” by John Kearsey, UMToday, 24 July 2026.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 25 July 2026.
We thank Catherine Collins for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 28 July 2026
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